2026-27 Is Playoffs or Bust for the New York Rangers

The New York Rangers begin the 2026-27 season tonight, when they head to Boston to take on the Bruins. After two straight disastrous seasons that led to major shakeups to the roster, the team is hoping this season will see luck turn in their favor. Even after all the moves, this roster still looks like a team that should be competitive. This season is playoffs-or-bust for the Rangers, and if they fail once again, more changes need to be made.

Chris Drury Made Win-Now Moves This Offseason

This would be a different story had general manager Chris Drury taken the Rangers in a rebuilding direction. When they began to spiral last season, Drury put out a letter to the fans saying he was going to take the team in a retooling direction, not a rebuild. This meant that even though he was going to trade players like Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, he still wanted to bring players in to keep the team competitive. That is exactly what he did over the past few months, as those players were traded away and others were brought in to hopefully take the team in a better direction this season.

The biggest move was acquiring Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights on draft night. He is the shoot-first player the team has been looking for, and he is still only 25 years old. To improve the defense, he brought in Sean Durzi as part of the Trocheck return from the Utah Mammoth, and he acquired Marcus Pettersson from the Vancouver Canucks. Drury brought in a new second pair on defense to help support the top pair of Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov. These moves made the Rangers better on paper; the hope is that these players can help turn a franchise that seemed directionless into one that can get back to being a playoff contender.

The Core Players Are Only Getting Older

Another reason why Drury made those moves is that the core players are only getting older. J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad, the top two centers on the team, are both 33 years old and will be 34 by the end of the regular season. Igor Shesterkin is 30 years old, while their top defensive pairing of Fox and Gavrikov are 28 and 30 years old, respectively. These top-paid players are only going to get older, and the window for them to win is closing with each year that passes.

The Rangers do have players who are in their early-to mid-20s who could become core pieces moving forward, but they have not yet established themselves as those kind of players. Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault are two players the team hopes will have breakout years this season, as they are being relied upon in a big way, with both being on the top line with Zibanejad to start the season. On defense, they just drafted Alberts Smits fifth overall, and he played well in camp, so he made the opening-night roster as an 18-year-old. While they could be key pieces moving forward, they are seen as supporting players right now, and the team hopes they can help support the core as they get older.

Drury Must Be Fired if Season Is a Failure Once Again

Failure is not an option for the Rangers; however, anything can happen in the NHL, and it would not surprise anyone if the team found itself near the bottom of the standings again this season. With injuries or poor performances from key players, this team will once again be sellers as others chase the Stanley Cup. If that is the case, then there is no defense in keeping Drury around anymore, and he must be let go. He has had six seasons to turn this team into a contender, and when they got close, he tore it down, and it led to the disaster that was the last two seasons. If his moves fail to pan out once again, his time as Rangers general manager must come to an end.

If the Rangers are bottom feeders once again, the question will then be whether any of the core players will want out of New York to chase a Stanley Cup elsewhere. There have already been questions about Fox’s future, but will players like Gavrikov, Shesterkin, Miller, or Zibanejad also have doubts about the future of this team? All of this doubt and uncertainty comes from the fact that Drury has shown he is willing to move out key pieces in the past, but if these players did want to go, Drury should not be the one making those trades. He dug himself and the team a hole they have yet to climb out of, and if they can’t get out of it this season, he needs to be gone as soon as possible.

The Rangers are going to be one of the more interesting teams to watch this season. They were last in the Eastern Conference last season, and with a team that looks better on paper, they are going to try to make it back to the playoffs. If they can, then that’s great, as anything can happen in the playoffs. If they fail to make it once again, major changes need to be made, starting with Drury losing his job.